Pamphlets complaints not upheld

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The Advertising Standards Authority has not upheld complaints relating to two out of three statements in a Conservative Party pamphlet critical of Labour's Napier candidate, Stuart Nash.

Mr Nash's campaign manager, Robert Johnson, complained to the authority about the pamphlet, which compared Conservative policy to the stance taken by Mr Nash on several issues.

The pamphlet was distributed in the Napier electorate where Mr Nash is vying for the seat against Conservative candidate Garth McVicar.

In a decision released yesterday, the authority said the Conservative Party had acknowledged it had made an error in the pamphlet by stating Labour had voted with National in 2012 " to remove Napier's right to vote independently on [the local government amalgamation] issue".

The authority said it considered the matter "settled" because Mr McVicar had apologised to Mr Nash for the error and inaccurate brochures had been destroyed.

The authority did not uphold Mr Johnson's complaint relating to two other statements in the pamphlet.

Mr Johnson had complained the flyer stated Mr Nash "refused to vote to amend the law" on smacking and it also said Mr McVicar "has lived in the Napier District his whole life".

Mr Johnson said Mr Nash was not an MP in 2007 when anti-smacking legislation was introduced but the authority accepted the Conservative's argument that he was in Parliament in 2010 when a private members bill seeking to amend the law was voted on.

It also accepted the Conservative's argument that as a farmer at Te Horato, about 60km from the city, Mr McVicar's claim to live in the Napier "district" was not misleading.